Educational courses

„Education is what remains to us after forgetting everything we learned in school."

Karel Čapek

Below, you will find a comprehensive overview of educational programmes organised by the Center for Documentary Film in Jihlava. On the left-hand side, you can choose among thematic series that consistently and systematically focus on a specific issue. One-off and individual lectures of a more general character are listed on the right; they deal with the relations between documentary cinema and other genres and areas of human activity. You can choose a course according to the level of difficulty. Our offer of courses and lectures is being continuously extended.

Cycles

A group of lectures following each other dealing with a specific topic. Usually divided into 4 blocks.

The course will introduce us to the phenomenon of advertising, its current forms as well as methods of communication it had employed in the past • 4 lectures: A look at the form and function of early advertisements. An active analysis of TV commercials. Commercials from the author’s perspective. Manipulation and a rough reality check. • 120 minutes • lectures, screenings, work in groups

The course will challenge the concepts of “reality”, “being realistic”, “authenticity” and “objectivity” that can be heard from the public space in the context of media and cinema. • 4 lectures: A general introduction to cinema, media and their relationship to reality. Current affairs and news. Creative documentary filmmaking. Limits of reality. • 120 minutes (optimally 150 minutes) • guests and screenings

A series of two lectures/workshops dedicated to creative writing in relation to documentary filmmaking. The first lecture includes an introduction and clarification of the principles of the given genre, a documentary film screening, definition of the possible perspectives, analysis and argumentation, followed by homework instruction. The second meeting is based on an analysis of all presented texts and their evaluation. • 2 lectures: Vít Janeček – essay or Kamil Fila – blog. • 120 minutes • lecture and a screening, work in groups and an analysis

A series of four lectures presenting creative methods employed by the authors in documentary filmmaking. • 3 or 4 lectures: Observational, investigative, engaged, diary-style and visually anthropological films. Montage films. Sociological time-lapse observation. Forms of documentary film staging. • 120 minutes • First lecture is a lecture incl. film clips and the following parts take on the form of a film screening with an interactive analysis

A series, as part of which children gradually create an animated film using time-laps shots, breathe life into e.g. their favourite toy and finally animate clay figures according to their wishes. • 3 lectures: Pixilation. Object animation. Claymotion. • 180 minutes • practical workshop •(suitable for 6-9 years old)

An insight into the problems and history of visual media from camera obscura to 3D projection. • 3 lectures: Theoretical introduction. Practical illustration of filmmaking techniques. Workshop – making a film collage in the 16 mm format. • 120 minutes • workshop with lectures and demonstrations

The individual parts of the series are composed of film clips and subsequent analysis of outstanding works of Czech documentary filmmaking of the post-revolution era. • 4 lectures: Film analysis. Diversity of methods. Basics of shooting (practical part). What next? • 120 minutes • lectures with film clips

A series about basic film components: rules for taking shots, working with the camera, adding sound and making all the individual elements into a movie. • 4 lectures: Mise-en-scène – Camera – Editing – Sound. • 90 minutes • lectures with film clips

Basics of sound and music in combination with the moving image. Critical reflection on the use of sound in today’s “audiovisual world”. • Pre-intermediate students • 4 lectures: General introduction. Director’s approach and expectations. Sound recording and mixing. Film music as a conceptual art. • 120 minutes (optimally 150 minutes) • guests and film screening

One-time Lectures

Screening, lecture and discussion within one lesson without being part of a cycle.

The course will introduce students to the possibilities of manipulation with images in media, ranging from photographs to audiovisual content. The second part will focus on an analysis of various commercial communications and their impact on the human mind. • 90 minutes (120 minutes) • lecture with printed visual materials and film clips

With lecturer, attorney Ivan David we will engage in a discussion first focusing especially on (legally) ambiguoussituation, such as the use of a hidden camera, limits of untouchability of public figures or films based on the found-footage principle. • 90 minutes • lecture incl. film clips

Lecture focusing on the influence and methods of advertising. Using the example of the famous Czech Dream we will demonstrate specific methods and practices used by marketers to primarily influence general public. • 120 minutes (optimally 150 minutes) • lecture and film screening

During a two-hour lecture, the lecturers will introduce children to the principle of one of four basic inventions (toys) and teach them how to create the toy. • 120 minutes (optimally 150 minutes) • practical workshop• (suitable for 6-9 years old)

Film Director Jaroslav Kratochvíl will present the methods used by filmmakers to scare the public with the “German threat” that are noticeably similar to those that today serve to spread fear of other nationalities and cultures. • 90 minutes • lecture with film clips